Women and Progressives

New roles for women

The lives of middle-class women began to change significantly during the Progressive Era as they entered the workforce, pursued higher education, and became involved in social reform movements. They advocated for suffrage, labor rights, and education reform, thereby expanding their influence and reshaping societal norms. About forty percent of college students were women. Many professional women were teachers, but some worked in nursing and other fields. Between 1890 and 1910, the female workforce almost doubled.

The “New Woman”

These changes created the "new woman." This term referred to educated, modern women who pursued interests outside their homes. A leading example of the "new woman" was Jane Addams. She set up Hull House, a Chicago settlement house at which the urban poor could get help with a variety of issues. She became a pioneer in the new field of social work.These changes created the "new woman." This term referred to educated, modern women who pursued interests outside their homes. A leading example of the "new woman" was Jane Addams. She set up Hull House, a Chicago settlement house at which the urban poor could get help with a variety of issues. She became a pioneer in the new field of social work. Working with disadvantaged people gave Addams an outlet for her energy and intelligence (in•TEH-luh juhnts). Inspired by Addams and others, many more women got involved in public life.

Women Join Forces

Women found another way to use their talents and energy in women's clubs. The number of women's clubs grew rapidly. At first they focused on things such as music and painting. Many clubs, however, became more concerned about social problems.

Some clubs started by white women refused to admit African Americans. In response, African American women created their own organizations. Clubs such as the Phyllis Wheatley Club of New Orleans provided classes, recreational activities, and social services. Women from these clubs formed the National Association of Colored Women. Mary Church Terrell, its founder and first president, was an active leader for women's rights. The association founded homes for orphans, established hospitals, and worked for woman suffrage. It fulfilled its motto "Lifting As We Climb."

Women and Voting Rights

In 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton helped organize a women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. This meeting helped launch what became the American women's rights movement. A key part of this movement was the demand for woman suffrage-voting rights for women.

Stanton was joined in her quest by Susan B. Anthony.

Together these women led the women's rights movement for 50 years. Stanton and Anthony were also joined after the Civil War by former abolitionists. Many of these reformers became suffragists (SUHF•rih jists), active supporters of a woman's right to vote.

Stanton helped found the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869 and was named its president. This group joined together with another suffrage organization in 1890 to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Stanton was elected president. When she resigned in 1892 Anthony became president. Anna Howard Shaw, a minister and doctor, and Carrie Chapman Catt, an educator and newspaper editor, were also leaders of this group.

Many working-class women also wanted the vote. They hoped to elect leaders who would pass labor laws protecting women. The movement also gained strength when people such as Jane Addams spoke out in support of woman suffrage.

As the movement grew, women began putting pressure on lawmakers. They organized marches and made speeches on street corners. On March 3, 1913, the day before President Woodrow Wilson's inauguration, suffragists marched on Washington, D.C.

The Struggle Continues

Suffragists won victories in some states. At the same time, they kept up their struggle to win the vote everywhere. Alice Paul founded the National Woman's Party in 1916. She was seeking greater equality, as well as suffrage, for women. In 1917 Paul met with President Wilson. Though he would later change his mind, Wilson at this time refused to support woman suffrage. In response, Paul led protesters in front of the White House. They were arrested for blocking the sidewalk. After their arrest, the women started a hunger strike. Alva Belmont, one of the protesters, proudly said that all the women had done was stand there "quietly, peacefully, lawfully, and gloriously."

The Nineteenth Amendment

By 1917 the tide was turning in favor of woman suffrage. NAWSA had more than 2 million members. President Wilson changed his position and began supporting woman suffrage.

Soon New York and, a year later, South Dakota and Oklahoma, joined a number of other states in granting woman suffrage. Congress turned its attention toward debating the issue.

In 1918 the House of Representatives passed a woman suffrage amendment. The next year, the Senate also passed the amendment. After three-fourths of the states had ratified it, the Nineteenth Amendment went into effect in 1920. The amendment came in time for women to vote in that year's presidential election.

Women and Social Reform

During the Progressive Era, women became involved in many reform movements in addition to woman suffrage. Many middle-class women worked to improve the lives of others. They helped working-class people, immigrants, and society as a whole.

Women supported and staffed libraries, schools, and settlement houses. They raised money for charities. They sponsored laws to regulate the labor of both women and children and to require the regular inspection of workplaces by the government. Their pressure on Congress helped create the Children's Bureau in the Labor Department.

Women also worked for reforms in the food and medicine industries. They put pressure on state legislatures to provide more support for widows and for abandoned mothers with children.

Working women were also active. In 1903 they formed the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) to help improve employment conditions for women. The WTUL urged working women to form labor unions. It aiso supported laws to protect the rights of women factory workers.

Temperance

Women led the crusade against the use of alcohol. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) formed in 1874, and the Anti-Saloon League was created in 1893. Both organizations were at the forefront of the fight against alcohol. Members called for temperance, urging people to stop drinking. They also supported prohibition-laws that would ban the making or selling of alcohol in the United States. Through state WCTU chapters, women combined their roles as guardians of the home with social activism.

Some Americans wanted to ban alcohol because they thought drinking was immoral. Other reformers cited the social impact of alcohol abuse-crime, the breakup of families, and poverty. In response to all these forces, Congress in 1917 passed a constitutional amendment declaring it illegal to make, transport, or sell alcohol in the United States.

The states ratified the Eighteenth Amendment, known as the Prohibition Law, in 1919. The states later reversed this amendment with the 1933 ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment. Still, prohibition was a big victory for women of the Progressive Era.

Overview

During the Progressive Era, middle-class women's lives changed as they entered the workforce, sought higher education, and engaged in social reform, advocating for suffrage, labor rights, and education reform. This led to the emergence of the \"new woman,\" exemplified by Jane Addams, who established Hull House in Chicago to aid the urban poor and became a pioneer in social work.

Women also joined forces in clubs, initially focused on cultural activities but increasingly concerned with social issues. African American women formed their own organizations, such as the National Association of Colored Women, led by Mary Church Terrell, to address their communities' needs and advocate for women's rights.

The women's rights movement, which began in 1848, called for woman suffrage, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. The movement grew, leading to marches, speeches, and the formation of organizations like the National Woman's Party, founded by Alice Paul. The struggle continued until the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920, granting women the right to vote.

In addition to suffrage, women were involved in various reform movements, supporting libraries, schools, and settlement houses, and advocating for laws regulating labor and improving conditions in the food and medicine industries. They also campaigned against alcohol, leading to the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment, known as the Prohibition Law, in 1919.